First Trailer For A24’s THE WHALE Arrives – Stars Brendan Fraser And In Theaters December 9

From Darren Aronofsky comes The Whale, the story of a reclusive English teacher who attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter. Starring Brendan Fraser and based on the acclaimed play by Samuel D. Hunter.

According to DEADLINE, “Fraser is now seen as a frontrunner in the best actor category of the Academy Awards.”

Sitting at 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, Fraser’s career has taken many turns, from blockbuster epics, beloved comedies, and a highly acclaimed role opposite Ian McKellen in the Oscar®-winning Gods and Monsters. But The Whale was something else entirely, with a set of demands that would make for a particularly courageous return to a major dramatic role. Fraser is open about the fact that he wrestled with doubts before production. “I admit I was intimidated. I had real fear going into this, but that just underlined for me the importance of digging even deeper than I knew I could. Maybe it was an antithetical choice, but I had never before been asked to do something like this: to combine everything I’ve learned in my professional life, to fit all the elements of character-building together into a unified whole, but also to put everything inside me on the line in this way,” he says. “And I was grateful for the chance.”

THE WHALE opens in theaters December 9.